De facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact." In law, it means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure (which means "concerning the law") when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique (such as standards) that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation. When discussing a legal situation, de jure designates what the law says, while de facto designates action of what happens in practice. It is analogous and similar to the expressions "for all intents and purposes" or "in fact."

Examples

Segregation (during the United States' Civil Rights era)

'De facto' racial discrimination and segregation in the USA during the 1950s and 1960s was simply discrimination that was not segregation by law (de jure).

Jim Crow Laws, which were enacted in the 1870s, brought legal racial segregation against African Americans residing in the Southeastern USA. These laws were legally ended in 1964 by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Continued practices of expecting African Americans to ride in the back of buses or to step aside onto the street if not enough room was present for a Caucasian person and "separate but equal" facilities are instances of de facto segregation. The NAACP fought for the de jure law to be upheld and for de facto segregation practices to be abolished.

Standards

A de facto standard is a standard (formal or informal) that has achieved a dominant position, by tradition, enforcement, or market dominance. It has not necessarily received formal approval by way of a standardization process, and may not have an official standards document.

National languages

Several de facto English-speaking countries have no de jure official national language, such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, although the official languages of the Republic of Ireland are Irish and English, English is considered to be the de facto language.

Russian was the de facto official language of the central government and, to a large extent, republican governments of the former Soviet Union, but was not declared de jure state language until 1990. A short-lived law effected April 24, 1990, installed Russian as the sole de jure official language of the Union. Japan is another example of a country with no language recognized de jure.

Lebanon and Morocco are two examples where the official language is Arabic but an additional de facto language is considered to be French.

Politics

A de facto government is a government wherein all the attributes of sovereignty have, by usurpation, been transferred from those who had been legally invested with them to others, who, sustained by a power above the forms of law, claim to act and do really act in their stead.

In politics, a de facto leader of a country or region is one who has assumed authority, regardless of whether by lawful, constitutional, or legitimate means; very frequently the term is reserved for those whose power is thought by some faction to be held by unlawful, unconstitutional, or otherwise illegitimate means, often by deposing a previous leader or undermining the rule of a current one. De facto leaders need not hold a constitutional office, and may exercise power in an informal manner.

Not all dictators are de facto rulers. For example, Augusto Pinochet of Chile initially came to power as the chairperson of a military junta, which briefly made him de facto leader of Chile, but then he later amended the nation's constitution and made himself president for life, making him the formal and legal ruler of Chile. Similarly, Saddam Hussein's formal rule of Iraq is often recorded as beginning in 1979, the year he assumed the Presidency of Iraq. However, his de facto rule of the nation began at an earlier date—during his time as vice president he exercised a great deal of power at the expense of the elderly, legal ruler, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr.

In Argentina, the successive military coups that overthrew constitutional governments, installed de facto governments in 1930, 1943–1945, 1955–1958, 1966–1973 and 1976-1983 which combined the powers of the presidential office to those of the National Congress. The subsequent legal analysis of the validity of their actions led to the formulation of a doctrine of the "de facto" governments. That doctrine was nullified by the constitutional reform of 1994. The Article 36 states: "This Constitution shall rule even when its observance is interrupted by acts of force against the constitutional order and the democratic system. These acts shall be irreparably null. Their authors will be subject to the penalties provided in Section 29, disqualified in perpetuity from holding any public office, and excluded from the benefits of amnesty or commutation of sentences (...) All citizens have the right to resist these acts of force."

Another example of a de facto ruler is someone who is not the actual ruler, but exerts great or total influence over the true ruler, which is quite common in monarchies. Some examples of these de facto rulers are Empress Dowager Cixi of China (for son Tongzhi and nephew Guangxu Emperors), Prince Alexander Menshikov (for his former lover Empress Catherine I of Russia), Cardinal Richelieu of France (for Louis XIII), and Queen Marie Caroline of Naples and Sicily (for her husband King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies).

Some notable true de facto leaders have been Deng Xiaoping of the People's Republic of China and General Manuel Noriega of Panama. Both of these men exercised near-total control over their respective nations for many years, despite not having either legal constitutional office or the legal authority to exercise power. These individuals are today commonly recorded as the "leaders" of their respective nations; recording their legal, correct title would not give an accurate assessment of their power. Terms like strongman or dictator are often used to refer to de facto rulers of this sort.

The term de facto head of state is sometimes used to describe the office of a governor general in the Commonwealth realms, since the holder of that office has the same responsibilities in their country as the de jure head of state (the sovereign) does within the United Kingdom.

In the Westminster system of government, executive authority is often split between a de jure executive authority of a head of state and a de facto executive authority of a prime minister and cabinet who implement executive powers in the name of the de jure executive authority. In the United Kingdom, the Sovereign is the de jure executive authority, even though executive decisions are made by the elected Prime Minister and his Cabinet on the Sovereign's behalf, hence the term Her Majesty's Government.

The de facto boundaries of a country are defined by the area that its government is actually able to enforce its laws in, and to defend against encroachments by other countries that may also claim the same territory de jure. The line of control in Kashmir is an example of a de facto boundary. As well as cases of border disputes, de facto boundaries may also arise in relatively unpopulated areas when the border was never formally established, or when the agreed border was never surveyed and its exact position is unclear. The same concepts may also apply to a boundary between provinces or other subdivisions of a federal state.

Similarly, a nation with de facto independence, like Somaliland, is one that is not recognized by other nations or by international bodies, even though it has its own government that exercises absolute control over its claimed territory.

Other usages

A de facto monopoly is a system where many suppliers of a product are allowed, but the market is so completely dominated by one that the others might as well not exist. (Similarly for related terms such as "oligopoly" and "monopsony.") This is the type of situation that antitrust laws are intended to eliminate, when they are used.

A domestic partner outside marriage is referred to as a de facto husband or wife by some authorities. In Australia and New Zealand, de facto has become a term for one's domestic partner. In Australian law, it is the legally recognized relationship of a couple living together (opposite-sex or same-sex). This is comparable to common-law marriage, which is used in most other English-speaking countries.

In finance the World Bank has a pertinent definition: :A "de facto government" comes into, or remains in, power by means not provided for in the country's constitution, such as a coup d'état, revolution, usurpation, abrogation or suspension of the constitution.

See also

De jure

List of Latin phrases

References

Category:Latin legal terms

Coordinates	49°39′52″N21°54′5″N
Name	Marčelo
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Marko Šelić
Born	January 22, 1983Paraćin, SFR Yugoslavia
Origin	Belgrade, Serbia
Genre	Fusion , Hip-hop , Rap Rock
Occupation	Writer
Years active	1997–present
Label	Multimedia Records Bassivity
Associated acts	Filter Crew Wikluh Sky

For a basketball player nicknamed "Marčelo", see Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Marčelo (Serbian: Марчело), born Marko Šelić (Марко Шелић) on January 22, 1983 in Paraćin, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, and is a Serbian rapper, known for his socially-conscious lyrics and eclectic approach to musical arrangements. From Paraćin, he moved to Belgrade, where he has had great success over the years, and became one of the most prominent Serbian hip hop artists. He is also a student of Serbian language and literature at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology, a journalist for a monthly magazine, and a novelist.

Musical career

Rise

Marčelo started making hip hop music in 1997, though his first significant contributions came out in 1999, with a demo band called Rhyme Animal. In order to pursue his solo career, Marčelo stepped out of Rhyme Animal in 2001, and started to work with Oneya, the founder of Bassivity Music and one of the leading producers on the Serbian hip hop scene. Oneya recognized his full potential and Marčelo signed with Bassivity in 2002. The first opportunity for a wider audience to hear and recognize his work came with 2003's Bassivity Mixtape Vol.1, to which he contributed two tracks, Definicija (feat. Šorti) and Snovidjenje.

Debut album (De Facto)

His debut album, De Facto, also released in 2003 on the Bassivity label, came out to both public and critical acclaim, and he was branded as the voice of a generation. The album was full of criticism of Serbian society at the dawn of the new millennium and personal themes, which were delivered in a very sincere manner. In his single and video Kuća Na Promaji (A House On A Range), he deals with the assassination of Serbia's prime minister in 2003, police brutality, corruption and alienation amongst young people in the country. It was the best-selling hip hop album that year in Serbia-Montenegro and the first post-war record that included collaborations between the new generation of music acts from former Yugoslavia [ Edo Maajka (Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia), Elemental (Croatia), Škabo (Serbia), Shorty (Croatia) and Disciplinska Komisija (Bosnia-Herzegovina).

Puzzle Shock!

Despite the success of his debut album, Marčelo was unable to settle his differences with the record company, so he transferred from Bassivity to Multimedia Records (Universal Music licensee in Serbia-Montenegro) in early 2005. In December the same year, Marčelo released his second album Puzzle Shock! (Multimedia Records), which featured the singles "Šarada" (Masquerade), "Otkucaji" (Heartbeats), "Pozerište" and "Novi Vavilon" (New Babylon). It topped the charts upon its release. This time his main collaborator was Dragoljub Marković alias Dr. Dra (ex-member of rock-bands such as Ništa ali logopedi, Block Out, X-Centar), who added some vocal parts, played various instruments and produced the album. Marčelo also did some co-producing and arrangement work. The resulting sound was a hip hop with strong rock, jazz and funk influences, which estranged a minority of fans who loved what they considered to be the pure hip hop sound of De Facto, but it gained the admiration of many people unfamiliar with rap and hip hop. Marčelo toured the country to promote the new album with a backing band Shock! Orchestra, taking part along the way in the EXIT 06 tour of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and sold out a venue Serbia's capital, Belgrade. At his gigs, he is supported by several big names on the Serbian hip hop scene: Wikluh Sky, Ministar Lingvista (Real Skllz) and Nancy. With the addition of DJ Raid, a talented DJ based in Switzerland, this is the line-up of The Filter Crew. His first novel "Zajedno Sami" (Together Alone) was published during February 2008.

Treća Strana Medalje

His third album, Treća strana medalje (album) (The Third Side Of The Medal), was released in December 2008.

Discography

De Facto (Bassivity, 2003)

Puzzle Shock! (Multimedia Records, 2005)

Treća strana medalje (album) (Multimedia Records, 2008)

Deca i Sunce (album) (Multimedia Records, 2010)

See also

Serbian hip hop

External links

Marčelo De Facto - official website

Multimedia Records

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Serbian rappers

Coordinates	49°39′52″N21°54′5″N
Name	Michael Steele
Order	64th
Office	Chairman of the Republican National Committee
Term start	January 2009
Term end	January 2011
Predecessor	Mike Duncan
Successor	Reince Priebus
Order2	7th
Office2	Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
Term start2	January 15, 2003
Term end2	January 17, 2007
Governor2	Robert Ehrlich
Predecessor2	Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
Successor2	Anthony G. Brown
Birth date	October 19, 1958
Birth place	Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland
Birthname	Michael Stephen Steele (after adoption)
Alma mater	Johns Hopkins University (B.A.)Villanova UniversityGeorgetown University Law Center (J.D.)
Party	Republican
Profession	Lawyer
Occupation	Politician
Spouse	Andrea Derritt Steele (m. 1985)
Children	Two
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	Michael Steele's blog
Signature	Michael Steele signature.svg

Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American politician who served as the first African American chairman of the Republican National Committee from January 2009 until January 2011. From 2003 to 2007, he was the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, the first African American elected to statewide office in Maryland. During his time as Lieutenant Governor, he chaired the Minority Business Enterprise taskforce, actively promoting an expansion of affirmative action in the corporate world.

In 2006, Steele made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, losing to Democrat Ben Cardin. He then served as chairman of GOPAC, the political training organization of the Republican party, was a political commentator for Fox News and a partner at the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf before making his bid for RNC Chairman. He co-founded the Republican Leadership Council, a "fiscally conservative and socially inclusive" political action committee, in 1993. On January 14, 2011, after four rounds of voting, Steele dropped out of the race and endorsed Maria Cino. Reince Priebus went on to win the election to succeed Steele.

Early life

Steele was born on October 19, 1958 at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, Maryland by William and Maebell Steele. William died in 1962. Maebell, who had been born into a sharecropping family in South Carolina, Steele's sister later married and divorced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.

Steele attended Archbishop Carroll Roman Catholic High School in Washington, D.C., participating in the Glee Club, the National Honor Society and many of the school's drama productions. During his senior year, he was elected student council president.

In 1977, Steele enrolled at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where he received a bachelor's degree in international studies.

Steele then spent three years preparing for the Catholic priesthood at the Augustinian Friars Seminary at Villanova University, teaching high school classes in world history and economics for one year at Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern, Pennsylvania. He left the seminary prior to ordination.

He then enrolled at the Georgetown University Law Center, attending classes at night and receiving his Juris Doctor in 1991. He failed the Maryland bar exam, but then passed the Pennsylvania bar exam.

Steele was employed as a corporate securities associate at the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. From 1991 to 1997, he specialized in financial investments for Wall Street underwriters, working at Cleary's Tokyo, Japan office on major product liability litigation and at its London office on corporate matters. He left the law firm and founded the Steele Group, a business and legal consulting firm. though detractors contend that his departure was a politically convenient effort to boost his chances of becoming the RNC chair. In 1995, the Maryland Republican Party selected him as their Republican Man of the Year.

Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

In 2002, Robert Ehrlich, who was running for Maryland Governor, selected Steele as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor. The campaign was waged against Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who was running for Governor and Charles R. Larson who was running for Lieutenant Governor.

Steele resigned his chairmanship of the Maryland Republican Party to campaign full-time. The Baltimore Sun praised Townsend's running mate, Larson, for his experience and expertise, stating that: "state GOP chairman Michael S. Steele, brings little to the team but the color of his skin."

In the September primary election, Ehrlich and Steele had no serious opposition. In the November 2002 general election, the Republican Ehrlich-Steele ticket won, 51 percent to 48 percent even though Maryland traditionally votes Democratic and had not elected a Republican Governor in almost 40 years. The Townsend-Larson campaign had been tainted by outgoing Democratic governor Parris Glendening's marital problems and backlash due to his strict enforcement of environmental regulations. During the election, Townsend was also criticized for her choice of running mate; she picked retired Admiral Charles R. Larson, a novice politician who had switched parties only a few weeks before.

Steele's most prominent efforts for the Ehrlich administration were reforming the state's Minority Business Enterprise program and chairing the Governor's Commission on Quality Education in Maryland. Steele garnered criticism for his failure to oppose Ehrlich's reinstitution of the death penalty, despite claims of racial inequities in the use of the death penalty, Steele's own religious beliefs and his prior anti-death penalty pronouncements.

At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Steele gave the Republican counterpoint to Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address; it was Steele's first major national exposure. In April 2005, President Bush chose him to be a member of the U.S. delegation at the investiture of Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City.

2006 campaign for U.S. Senate

When Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest-serving United States Senator, announced in March 2005 that he would not be a candidate for re-election in 2006, top state and national Republican officials began pressing Steele to become their party's nominee for the seat. In April 2005, The Baltimore Sun announced the results of a poll it conducted, stating that Steele would run statistically neck and neck against either former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume, or Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore County. Steele formally announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on October 25, 2005.

Steele lost the general election to Cardin on November 7, 2006, 44 percent to Cardin's 55 percent. Steele's former campaign finance chairman later alleged improprieties in Steele's handling of campaign funds, which Steele denied.

After the Senate race

One day after Steele conceded defeat in the Senate election, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post reported that Steele was hoping to succeed Ken Mehlman as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, who had the endorsement of President George W. Bush, got the position.

In February 2007, Steele became chairman of GOPAC, a political action committee that helps fund state and local Republican campaigns around the country and is responsible for training future Republican candidates. He succeeded former U.S. Congressman J.C. Watts, a fellow black Republican. In April 2007, Steele joined the international law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, as a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office.

At a speech given at the Media Research Center's 2007 DisHonors Awards Gala, Steele said: }} Steele is considered a possible candidate for Governor of Maryland in the future, and has said he's "intrigued by the idea". He has said that he will not run for President in 2012.

Steele appeared several times on HBO's political show Real Time with Bill Maher, and was on Comedy Central's talk show The Colbert Report on January 23, 2007. He also hosted a PBS Republican Primary debate in Baltimore, Maryland on September 27, 2007.

He coined the phrase "Drill Baby Drill" during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota, where he promoted offshore drilling as an alternative to dependency on foreign oil.

RNC Chairman

Election

On November 24, 2008 Steele launched his campaign for the RNC chairmanship with the launching of his website. On January 30, 2009, Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77. Steele, the Republican Party's first African American chief, was selected in the aftermath of President Obama's election, when many in the GOP saw him as a charismatic counter to the first black president.

2008 RNC Chairman Vote

''Source: CQPolitics, and Poll Pundit {|class="wikitable" |- ! Candidate ! Round 1 ! Round 2 ! Round 3 ! Round 4 ! Round 5 ! Round 6 |- | Michael Steele | 46 | style="background:cornflowerblue;"|48 | style="background:cornflowerblue;"|51 | 60 | style="background:cornflowerblue;"| 79 | style="background:limegreen;"| 91 |- | Katon Dawson | 28 | 29 | 34 | style="background:cornflowerblue;"| 62 | 69 | 77 |- | Saul Anuzis | 22 | 24 | 24 | 31 | 20 |style="background:lightgrey;"|Withdrew |- | Ken Blackwell | 20 | 19 | 15 | 15 |style="background:lightgrey;"|Withdrew |style="background:lightgrey;"| |- | Mike Duncan | style="background:cornflowerblue;"| 52 | style="background:cornflowerblue;"| 48 | 44 |style="background:lightgrey;"|Withdrew |style="background:lightgrey;"| |style="background:lightgrey;"| |- |} : Candidate won that Round of voting : Candidate withdrew : Candidate won RNC Chairmanship

In December 2010, Steele declared that he would run for re-election as RNC chair.

At the 2011 RNC Winter Meeting in Baltimore, Steele withdrew from the chairperson race after the fourth ballot, urging his supporters to vote for Maria Cino.

Leadership dispute with Rush Limbaugh

On March 1, 2009 in response to a question on CBS's Face the Nation as to who spoke for the Republican Party, President Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said it was Rush Limbaugh because "whenever a Republican criticizes [Limbaugh], they have to run back and apologize to him, and say they were misunderstood. He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. And he has been upfront about what he views, and hasn't stepped back from that, which is he hopes for [President Obama's] failure. He said it. And I compliment him for his honesty, but that's their philosophy that is enunciated by Rush Limbaugh."

In remarks aired by the CNN program D.L. Hughley Breaks the News on March 1, 2009, Steele said he, rather than Limbaugh, is "the de facto leader of the Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly." On March 2, 2009 Limbaugh said on his radio show that Steele is not fit to lead the Republican Party, asking of him "Why do you claim to lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds?" After the show Steele called Limbaugh to apologize, saying "I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership. I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren't what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he's not." Steele later issued another statement to say that Limbaugh "is a national conservative leader, and in no way do I want to diminish his voice. I truly apologize."

Political positions

Abortion

Steele is opposed to abortion. He has said he thinks Roe v. Wade was "wrongly decided" and "should be overturned." Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, the Christian Coalition, and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council criticized Steele's remarks. In response to his GOP critics, Steele told Gentleman's Quarterly, "I ask God, 'Hey, let me show just a little bit of love, so I absolutely don't go out and kick this person's ass'".

Affirmative Action

As Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Steele committed $70 million in grants and loan guarantees for small and minority-owned businesses. "Studies show enormous disparities still exist in education, healthcare, employment and economic opportunities along racial lines in the United States. I believe programs are still necessary to help close these divides. I support giving people opportunities. Programs must be fair to all Marylanders – of every color – and they should focus on economic empowerment." ... "We're just beginning to rediscover what we should be doing with affirmative action. Don't look at our universities. We got that. Let's look at our boardrooms, let's look at the management structure."

Global Warming

"We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I use my fingers as quotation marks, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right?"

Gun Control

"Society should draw lines. What do you need an assault weapon for, if you're going hunting? That's overkill. But I don't think that means you go to a total ban for those who want to use gun for skeet shooting or hunting or things like that. But what's the point of passing gun laws if we're not going to enforce them? If you want to talk about gun control, that's where you need to start. We've got 300 gun laws on the books right now. At the end of the day, it's about how we enforce the law."

Immigration

"Secure our borders first. Let us know and let us make sure the American people know that we're taking care of the important business of dealing with the illegal immigration into this country. You cannot begin to address the concerns of the people who are already here unless and until you have made certain that no more are coming in behind them."

National Security

"How do we engage in an enemy we can't see? How do we understand and know their next move? This is going to be a challenging question of the day...I'm not for shooting first and asking questions later." He believes in using "smart intelligence on the ground" while "preparing and placing ourselves in a position to act."

Same-Sex Marriage

Steele has stated that he personally opposes a federal marriage amendment to ban same-sex marriage and believes that states should decide the issue for themselves, but has indicated he would uphold the current party platform and thus support the amendment. He rates the issue of banning same-sex marriage low in importance. Steele opposes same sex civil unions.

Stem Cell Research

"We have a lot to gain through furthering stem cell research, but medical breakthroughs should be fundamentally about saving, not destroying, human life. Therefore, I support stem cell research that does not destroy the embryo." In February 2006 Steele compared embryonic stem cell research to medical experiments performed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, remarks for which he later apologized.

War in Afghanistan

July 2, 2010 video footage of Steele was released in which he stated that the Afghan war was "a war of Obama's choosing. If he's such a student of history has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do - is engage in a land war in Afganistan? Everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history has failed." He also said the war was "not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in." The War in Afghanistan was initiated by George W. Bush in October 2001 in retaliation for the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. and Barack Obama has increased troop levels there since taking office. Former Bush adviser Karl Rove referred to Steele's comment as "boneheaded". John McCain, Arizona Senator and Republican nominee for president in the 2008 election, withdrew his support from Steele, calling Steele's comments "wildly inaccurate... there is no excuse for them", saying "I think that Mr. Steele is going to have to assess as to whether he can still lead the Republican Party as chairman of the Republican National Committee." McCain's comments have been echoed by Senator Jim DeMint, who said Steele should "apologise to our military, all the men and women who've been fighting in Afghanistan" and Senator Lindsey Graham who said "It was an uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely comment. This is not President Obama's war, this is America's war. We need to stand behind the president." Former Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Elizabeth Cheney has also called for Steele to resign. Congressman Ron Paul, who is known for his generally antiwar stance, has come out in support of Steele, however, saying "Michael Steele has it right, and Republicans should stick by him." Ann Coulter also supported the notion that it's now Obama's war, citing Democratic rhetoric that Afghanistan was "the good war" and a "war of necessity." She also pointed out that the "entire seven-year course of the Afghanistan war under Bush, from October 2001 to January 2009, 625 American soldiers were killed. In 18 short months, Obama has nearly doubled that number to 1,124 Americans killed."

War in Iraq

"It is imperative we improve conditions on the ground so we can bring our troops home as quickly as possible and have the Iraqi people take control of their own destiny. At the same time, we should not publicly state a timetable for implementation. I do not support a 'cut and run strategy.' Any politician out there talking about timetables and timelines is playing into the hands of our enemies who have an enormous capacity to wait. It would be a disaster for us to cut and run, as it would destroy our credibility in the region for at least a generation. At the same time, it is the Iraqis themselves that will ultimately have to make democracy work in their country. We should stay there only long enough to give the Iraqi people the tools they need to secure the very democracy they voted for three times. After that, it's up to them."

Right Now

Steele's book, , was released on January 4, 2010; it was published by Regnery Publishing, ISBN 978-1596981089.

Notes

References

State of Maryland Office of Minority Affairs, MBE Commission, Feb. 27, 2004

External links

Chairman Steele official blog at the Republican National Committee site

;Interviews and statements

Interview with C-SPAN's Brian Lamb, February 27, 2005

Interview with Michael Steele on Fox News with Chris Wallace, December 22, 2009

Interview with Michael Steele by The American View, audio

Michael Steele's Blueprint for Tomorrow GOP's Steele Tells Party To Look Forward, Not Backward by Michael Steele ;Articles

10 Things You Didn't Know About Michael Steele from U.S. News and World Report, April 7, 2008

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:American Roman Catholics Category:African-American Catholics Category:American Roman Catholic politicians Category:African American politicians Category:American adoptees Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni Category:Lieutenant Governors of Maryland Category:Maryland Republicans Category:People from Prince George's County, Maryland Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:Republican National Committee chairmen Category:State political party chairs of the United States Category:Candidates in United States elections, 2002 Category:Candidates in United States elections, 2006

Coordinates	49°39′52″N21°54′5″N
Name	Jon Stewart
Caption	Stewart at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, October 30, 2010.
Alma mater	William & Mary
Birth name	Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz
Birth date	November 28, 1962
Birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Active	1987–present
Genre	Satire/political satire/news satire, observational comedy
Subject	Mass media/news media/Media criticism, American politics, current events, religion, Jewish culture, race relations, human sexuality, self-deprecation
Influences	George Carlin, Woody Allen, David Letterman, Steve Martin, is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian. He is widely known as host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program that airs on Comedy Central.

In January 2005, CNN announced that it was canceling Crossfire. When asked about the cancellations, CNN/US' incoming President, Jonathan Klein, referenced Stewart's appearance on the show: "I think he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day." Soon after, Stewart quipped on The Daily Show that "I fought the law, and the law lost!"

When asked about his relationship with Tucker Carlson on CNN's Larry King Live in February 2008, Stewart said: "It became this idea that it was personal between the two of us, and it wasn't... If there's one thing I regret about that thing, it was probably the idea that it was personal, that there was something I was saying about Tucker to Tucker, but actually it was about the show."

On March 18, 2009, Carlson wrote a blog entry for The Daily Beast criticizing Stewart for his handling of the CNBC controversy (see below). In this article, Carlson discusses the CNN incident and claims Stewart remained backstage for at least "an hour" and "continued to lecture our staff", something Carlson described as "one of the weirdest things I have ever seen."

Criticism of CNBC

Stewart again became a viral internet phenomenon following a March 4, 2009, The Daily Show sequence. CNBC cancelled Rick Santelli's scheduled appearance but Stewart still ran a short segment showing CNBC giving bad investment advice.

Subsequent media coverage of exchanges between Jim Cramer, who had been featured heavily in the original segment, and Stewart, led to a highly anticipated face-to-face confrontation on The Daily Show. The episode received a large amount of media hype and became the second most-viewed episode of The Daily Show, trailing only the 2009 Inauguration Day episode. It had 2.3 million total viewers, and the next day, the show's website saw its highest day of traffic in 2009. Although Cramer acknowledged on the show that some of Stewart's criticisms of CNBC were valid and that they could "do better," he later said on the "Today" Show that Stewart's criticism of the media was "naïve and misleading."

Criticism of Fox News

For years, Stewart has regularly accused Fox News of distorting the news to fit a conservative agenda, at one point ridiculing the network as “the meanest sorority in the world.” In November 2009, Stewart called out Fox News for using some footage from a previous Tea Party rally during its report of a more recent one, making the later rally appear larger than it was. The show's anchor, Sean Hannity, apologized the following night. A month later, Stewart criticized Fox & Friends cohost Gretchen Carlson – a former Miss America and Stanford graduate – for claiming that she googled words such as "ignoramus" and "czar." Stewart believed that Carlson was dumbing herself down for "an audience who sees intellect as an elitist flaw.”

Stewart stepped up his criticism of Fox News in 2010; as of April 24, The Daily Show had 24 segments criticizing Fox News′ coverage. Moments later, Stewart defended his assertion: On April 30, 2009, Stewart apologized on his program, and stated he did not believe Truman was a war criminal: }}

Books

in New York.]]In 1998, Stewart released his first book, Naked Pictures of Famous People, a collection of humorous short stories and essays. The book reached The New York Times Best Seller List.

In 2004, Stewart and The Daily Show writing staff released , a mock high school history textbook offering insights into the unique American system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and satirizing such popular American political precepts as "one man, one vote", "government by the people," and "every vote counts." The book sold millions of copies upon its 2004 release and ended the year as a top fifteen best-seller.

Film and television acting

Although best known for his work on The Daily Show, Stewart has also had roles in several films and television series.

His first film role was a minor part in The First Wives Club but his scene was deleted. In 1995, Stewart signed a three-year deal with Miramax. He played romantic leads in the films Playing by Heart and Wishful Thinking. He also had supporting roles in the romantic comedy Since You've Been Gone and in the horror film The Faculty. Other films were planned for Stewart to write and star in, but they were never produced. Stewart has since maintained a relationship with Miramax founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein and continues to appear in films they have produced including Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Doogal and the documentary Wordplay.

He also appeared in Half Baked as an "enhancement smoker" and in Big Daddy as Adam Sandler's roommate; he has joked on the Daily Show and in the documentary The Aristocrats that to get the role he slept with Sandler. Stewart often makes fun of his appearances in the high-profile flop Death to Smoochy, in which he played a treacherous television executive, and the animated film Doogal, where he played a blue spring named Zeebad that shot a freeze ray from his mustache. In 2007, Stewart made a cameo appearance as himself in Evan Almighty, which starred former Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell. In the movie, Stewart was seen on a television screen in a fictional Daily Show episode poking fun at Carell's character for building an ark.

Stewart had a recurring role in The Larry Sanders Show in which he played himself as an occasional substitute and possible successor to late-night talk show host Larry Sanders (played by Garry Shandling). In 1998, Stewart hosted the television special, Elmopalooza, celebrating 30 years of Sesame Street. He has guest-starred on other sitcoms such as The Nanny, Dr Katz, Professional Therapist, Spin City, NewsRadio, American Dad, and The Simpsons. He has also made guest-appearances on the children's television series Between the Lions, Sesame Street and Jack's Big Music Show.

Producing

In the mid-1990s, Stewart launched his own production company named Busboy Productions. The name of the company is a reference to Stewart's previous job as a busboy. The company's production logo features the sound of a glass being knocked over followed by a voice whispering "Oops. Sorry." Stewart signed a deal with Miramax to develop projects through his company, but none of his ideas were ever produced. After Stewart's success as host and producer of The Daily Show, he revived Busboy Productions with Daily Show producers Ben Karlin and Rich Korson. In 2002, Busboy planned to produce a sitcom for NBC starring Stephen Colbert, but the show did not come to fruition.

In 2005, Comedy Central reached an agreement with Busboy to finance the production company. Comedy Central has a first-look agreement on all projects, then Busboy is free to shop them to other networks. The deal spawned the Daily Show spin-off The Colbert Report. Other projects include the sitcom pilot Three Strikes, the documentary Sportsfan, the series Important Things with Demetri Martin, and the film The Donor.

WGA strike of 2007–2008

Stewart was an important factor in the unionization of the writers for Comedy Central. The Daily Show writers were the first of Comedy Central's writers to be able to join the guild, after which other shows followed.

He supported the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, commenting on The Daily Show episode just before the strike in a sarcastic manner about how Comedy Central had made available all of the episodes for free on their website, but without advertising, and said 'go support our advertisers'. The show went on hiatus when the strike began, as did other late night talk shows. Upon Stewart's return to the show on January 7, 2008, he refused to use the title The Daily Show, stating that "The Daily Show" was the show made with all of the people responsible for the broadcast, including his writers. During the strike, he referred to his show as A Daily Show with Jon Stewart until the strike ended on February 13, 2008. Stewart, as well as several other late night talk shows, returned to TV early in January even though the strike was not over, because their stage crews and production teams were suffering much more than the writers from the financial crunch, and by that point had been out of work for two months.

The Writers Guild Strike of 2007–2008 was also responsible for a notable mock feud among Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien in early 2008. Without writers to help fuel their witty banter, the three comedians concocted a crossover/rivalry in order to garner more viewers during the ratings slump. Stephen Colbert made the claim that because of "the Colbert bump", he was responsible for Mike Huckabee's success in the 2008 presidential race. Conan O'Brien claimed that he was responsible for Huckabee's success because not only had he made mention of him on his show, but also that he was responsible for Chuck Norris' success (Norris backed Huckabee). In response, Stewart claimed that he was responsible for the success of O'Brien, since Stewart had featured him on The Jon Stewart Show, and in turn the success of Huckabee. This resulted in a three-part comedic battle between the three pundits, with all three appearing on each other's shows. The feud ended on Late Night with Conan O'Brien with a mock brawl involving the three talk-show hosts.

Honors

Stewart and the rest of the members of The Daily Show have received two Peabody Awards for "" and "", covering the 2000 presidential election and the 2004 presidential election, respectively.

In the December 2003 New Years edition of Newsweek, Stewart was named the "Who's Next?" person for the coming year of 2004, with the magazine predicting he would emerge as an absolute sensation in that year. (The magazine said they were right at the end of that year.)

Entertainment Weekly named Stewart as its "Entertainer of the Year" for 2004.

In 2004, Stewart spoke at the commencement ceremonies at his alma mater, William and Mary, and received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree. Stewart was also the Class Day keynote speaker at Princeton University in 2004, and the 2008 Sacerdote Great Names speaker at Hamilton College.

In 2000, when he was labeled a "Democrat," he generally agreed, but described his political affiliation as "more socialist or independent" than Democratic.

Asteroid 116939 Jonstewart, discovered April 15, 2004, is named in his honor.

Stewart was also named one of the 2005 Time 100, an annual list of 100 of the most influential people of the year by Time Magazine.

In addition, Stewart and The Daily Show received the 2005 NCTE George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.

Stewart was presented an Honorary All-America award by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in 2006.

On April 21, 2009, President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made Stewart a chief.

On October 26, 2010, Stewart was named the Most Influential Man of 2010 by AskMen.com.

Grammy Awards

Stewart has hosted the Grammys twice, in 2001 and in 2002. In the middle of the 2001 broadcast – after laying a number of comedic duds – Stewart did what he encourages most public officials to do, and owned up to his bad hosting, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say I feel your scorn and accept it." When Stewart returned to host the next year, his comedy was more successful. Joking about the performance of the song "Lady Marmalade", he said, "Our next performance is from the movie Moulin Rouge!, a film about a time when the whorehouses were about the music!" When the award winners for Album of the Year walked up on stage, many in number, Stewart quipped, "I don't know what you may have heard, but you were only supposed to go on stage if you worked on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, not if you heard it."

Oscars

On January 5, 2006, Stewart was officially announced as the host of the 78th Academy Awards, which were held March 5 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Responding to press questions at the time of his selection, Stewart remarked: "As a performer, I'm truly honored to be hosting the show. Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can't help but be a little disappointed with the choice. It appears to be another sad attempt to smoke out Billy Crystal." (According to The New York Times, Oscar producer Gil Cates knew Crystal was going to be performing 700 Sundays during the time period and was not able to host.) On the Monday before the Oscars, Stewart told Larry King that he was more "excited" than nervous about the job and joked that if he turned out a failure, he could be "bumped down to public access". When asked what the opening would be, the comedian chastised himself by comparing a Stewart opening to a "Gene Rayburn homage". Instead, the opening segment, preceding Stewart's monologue, featured several recent hosts "declining" to host the show.

Critical response to Stewart's performance was mixed. Roger Ebert compared him favorably to legendary Oscar host Johnny Carson. Other reviewers were less positive; Tom Shales of The Washington Post said that Stewart hosted with “smug humorlessness.” James Poniewozik of Time said that Stewart was a bad host, but a great “anti-host” in that he poked fun at parts of the broadcast that deserved it, which lent him a degree of authenticity with the non-Hollywood audience. Stewart and correspondent John Oliver later poked fun at his lackluster reception on The Daily Show's coverage of the 79th Academy Awards by saying that the "demon of last year's Oscars had finally been exorcised."

Stewart also hosted the 80th Academy Awards on February 24, 2008. Reception this time, however, was far more positive.

Personal life

In 2000, Stewart married Tracey McShane, his girlfriend of four years. The couple met on a blind date set up by a production assistant on Stewart's film, Wishful Thinking. On June 19, 2001, Stewart and his wife filed a joint name change application and legally changed both of their surnames to "Stewart." He proposed to his future wife through a personalized crossword puzzle created with the help of Will Shortz, the crossword editor at The New York Times. The couple had their first child, Nathan Thomas Stewart (named after Stewart's grandfather), They also have a cat named Stanley and two pit bull terriers, Monkey and Shamsky (named after former Major League Baseball player Art Shamsky).

Filmography

Bibliography

Naked Pictures of Famous People (Rob Weisbach Books, 1998) ISBN 0688171621

(Warner Books, September 2004) ISBN 0-446-53268-1

(Grand Central Publishing, 2010) ISBN 978-0446579223

References

External links

in 2010 in 2005 in 2004

Collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Category:1962 births Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Actors from New York City Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American media critics Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American political pundits Category:American satirists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television personalities Category:College of William & Mary alumni Category:Criticism of journalism Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:Living people Category:Male comedians Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Mercer County, New Jersey Category:People from New York City Category:New York Democrats Category:Thurber Prize for American Humor winners Category:William & Mary Tribe athletes

Coordinates	49°39′52″N21°54′5″N
Name	Dana White
Birth date	July 28, 1969
Birth place	Manchester, CT, U.S.
Known for	UFC President
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 11 in

Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.

Biography

Born in Manchester, Connecticut on July 28, 1969, White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.

White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president. White currently owns 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC. White would later apologize for his slurs. He specifically did not include Hunt in the apology. Hunt responded by saying "I stand by the story. It's accurate."

Charity

In December 2010 White donated $50,000 for a life-saving surgery for the 7-month-old daughter of a popular Thai MMA trainer at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand.

Personal life

White and his wife have two sons and a daughter. He is an atheist, and has stated that he is 'fascinated' by religion.

Accomplishments

Nevada Sportsman of the Year (2009)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards

*Promoter of the Year (2005–2009)

World MMA Awards

*Leading Man of the Year 2010

References

Won Sports Media Marketing’s Game Changer Award.

External links

UFC homepage

June/July Men's Fitness cover story

Category:Living people Category:1969 births Category:Mixed martial arts people Category:People from Manchester, Connecticut Category:American atheists